User Reviews

Reviews by Chadbrew:

The whole experience of this beer is just average, that is really the most appropriate way I can describe it. The appearance is a little on the dark side for a Czech Pilsner and there is a touch of haze too. The head starts out alright but quickly subsides to a thin ring around the rim and a large bubble or two every few seconds. There is some oxidation but apart from that there is a slight corn smell and a little something like fresh mowed grass. I will say that I do pick up a rather pleasant amount of bitterness initially and a nice balance of malt.
Not the most drinkable beer, its not that it's undrinkable its just that life is just way too short to waste on average beer.

More User Reviews:

Appearance: Deep golden hue, darker than your standard pilsnerruns toward faint amber. Big sudsy head holds nicely, leaving a thick covering that persists quite a while, and then yields a decent collar through to the end. Tons, and I mean tons of visible carbonation in this one (but not as noticeable on the palate as you'd expect from the appearance).

Smell: Quite a bit of malt, faintly caramel in nature, and ample hops. Smells big actually, and Im not getting the crisp cleanliness of most Czech Pilsners Ive had. A 'thicker' aroma than most in the style. Much bigger than Pilsner Urquell, for example.This one seems unafraid to 'could the clean'. Notes of cooked, raw corn, bit of sweet malt, slightly citric hops. Thankfully no prominent sulphur notes. Though sadly, a bit of a metallic zing as it warms.

Taste: Bitter hops are quick to rush the palate. Some esters are present, and misplaced. Lightly peppery hop component as well. A bit of a sweetened malt flavor, slightly cloying. A bit of bread and just a touch of yeast near the finish.

Finish: Firmly bitterfar more so than most pilsners in my experience. I like this factor the best in this beer, it's boldly bitter, yet not improperly hoppy for the style. Very nicely balanced.

Mouthfeel: quite enjoyable, and again, thicker than what I expected from a pilsner. Perhaps a bit out of place, but, eh, I dig it. Medium-bodied.

Drinkability: could have a few, but there's a bit of a cloying element that I think would interfere with making this a session brew.

Misc: If I found this on tap somewhere, I'd gladly have a pint. As for buying another 6-pack, at $8.99, I'd try some others first.

Pivovar Herold - Czech Premium Lager; I think this is the same beer. Different label but same ABV.

A 500ml green glass bottle with a BB of Nov 2012. Picked up quite recently from a B&M supermarket. The label mentions that this is produced at the Herold castle brewery, which has a heritage going back 500 years.

Poured into a straight pint glass. A deep golden colour with good carbonation. Forms a small head of white foam that lasts for a minute or two before subsiding to a surface layer. Aroma of light malt with faint grain, a whiff of harsh stewed leaves and a sulphurous note. Not great.

Tastes of light malt with a dry, bitter finish. Notes of stewed leaves, with a harsh quality in the background. Hints of overcooked veg. An acrid, astringent bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, creamy and full-bodied, with tingly carbonation. Somewhat astringent, with an aftertaste of bitter stewed leaves.

Meh - not brilliant. A pity, as Czech lagers tend to be well made. The best aspect of this brew is the texture, which is full and smooth. It also looks nice. However, the aroma and flavour leave much to be desired; harsh stewed leaf bitterness and off-notes. No aromatic hops to be found. Rather mediocre lager- give it a miss.

Herold's Bohemian lager delivers a crystal-clear, deep golden body capped by a short lid of bright white foam that drops shortly but leaves some nice splashes of lace about the glass. Grassy and herbal hops are present in the nose along with a mild, grainy maltiness. The body is medium-light, and its fine-bubbled median carbonation lends a light zest to the tongue. It's well-balanced with it's hop flavor appearing up-front, and then quickly fading to allow some subtly sweet and grainy malt to appear before its solid bitterness rises. Unfortunately, some fermentation flaws exist, and there are some unwanted esters present. It finishes dry with some lingering malt and hop.

Slightly hazy (chill haze?), gold in hue with a smattering of bronze; I like the color as it is a tad richer then a typical Pils. Creamy white head, at the apex the foam was a little over one finger tall. The head retention was excellent; the bubbles were slow to fade to soapy collar. The subsequent lacing was spotty and quite minimal.

The nose is weakly hoppy, earthy, spicy, grassy (as it should be!) but the aromas are kind of soft, IMO. Hints of cracker maltiness but I find the malt awfully weak too. Otherwise the nose is clean. Well, generally speaking the bouquet is everything it should be but it completely lacks potency and depth. Yawn.

The palate is quite bland. Cooked veggies, dull earthiness, dying grass, and a smattering of malt; I love the style but this beer is very lame. Clean, quick finish vaguely sweet aftertaste but short-lived; there really isnt much more to say about this beer. In sum: it is a dud.

Medium/medium-light in body, the carbonation is low, the mouthfeel is a bore.

Not tasty. Not drinkable. Not worth purchasing. Thankfully, this beer was given to me by Bill from CM. Thanks. This is nothing Id every consider purchasing in the future. Not recommended.

Brown 500ml bottle 'Czech Premium Lager' on the label, like other Brits, I think this is the same beer.

My bottle was one month out of date (best before 5th April, drank 8th may).

Poured into one of my Veltins stemmed glasses two and ahalf times.

Mid-range Lager/Pilsner appearance, meaning a golden yellow body, more dull than bright and with the normal white head. The head on each pour fell away very quickly to leave a thin scum on top of the well carbonated body.

This lager had an aroma, some hops, yeast and baking powder? Smells.

Dry and fairly refreshing, this had a lot more substance than a lot of lagers, not so watery as a few I could mention. A smooth feel for a lager.

Pours a darker golden color than other pilseners with practically no head. Smells a bit spicy with some odd sweet malt notes. These come through in the taste with a minor hop taste and bitterness. Unremarkable taste for this style with a thin mouthfeel. Overall, I'm a little disappointed that this pils isn't hoppier and more punchy. I thought hoppy pilseners is what the Czech style was all about. Oh well.

I'm fairly certain this is the beer I'm about to review, though this bottle says "Pivovar Herold Czech Premium Lager" and has a completely different label than what is pictured here. Purchased at Tesco (a UK supermarket chain).

Poured a cleay golden-yellow color with massive white puffy head. Smell is a bit malty, but very light. Taste is crisp and a bit malty, but also very mild. Finish presents a bit more hop character, but still very light. A bit thin in the mouth. An easy drinking beer, but really has nothing that makes it stand out.

Pours a clear medium gold. White foamy head that dissipates to about 1/8 inch. Plenty of carbonation. Smell was rather non-descript, barely yeasty and malty, not hops in the nose at all. Taste was almost too smooth. Not much hop bitterness, the malts were present, and just a subtle touch of sourness. Finish is crisp as expected. The carbonation is active on the palate, though this is just a couple of notches above a macro lager when it comes to mouthfeel. But it was very simple to drink. If this can be found reasonably priced then it could become a sports watching cold one here at the homestead.

Pours a clear sort of orange/amber colour with a small white head that has okay retention but not great & leaves a thick lacing. The colour is nice.

It smells kind of watery and much like your typical pale lager with grain & bread featuring. It is quite bland smelling though.

The taste consists mainly on bread, corn and a little grain with a tangy, citrus like aftertaste that is followed up by a bitter finish. Not to my likely, with the tangy flavour a little off putting & not to my liking.

This one is very light on the palate & quite watery overall. It is smooth but other than that it doesn't have much going for it.

The stange, rather tangy aftertaste ruins this beer completely for me. It tasted & smelt rather bland too.

A clean yellow hay is yielded with a blustery bubbling to greet the eye. The head is of one and a half fingers and recedes to maintain a steady, thick foamy film. Terrible sweat sock, adjuncts, Limburger. The smell reaches a fever pitch when you tip the glass to take a sip. Taste a little light on the grassy element that I come to love from Czech Pilsners especially . Pretty bland with notes of mold.

OK, I'm confused now. The picture is of the beer I drank. The brewers' website (www.heroldbeer.com/) says the ABV is 5.1%, not 5 %. Little stuff, I'll grant you. The big problem for me is, the label said 9% (OG?) while the website states 12%. My brain hurts. Just gonna review as if this is the correct beer and cast all doubts out of my aching, little head cuz I don't want to add another new beer!

Pours a nice, rich, amber color with little head to speak of.
Smell is rich, malty, oak and caramel.
Taste is replicated with a kind of medicinal kick late that gets a bit harsh.
Medium bodied brew that drinks way better than any megabrewer's lager but wasn't the best I've ever had. At least it wasn't all hops.

Had as "Herold Světlý Březnický Ležák", same abv, quite sure it's the same beer.
Clear golden pour, poor white head, fast to a bit of lace.
Smell doesn't really attract, it's pretty malty sweet, corn, some grain, faint stewed hops.
Yep, sweet and malty, corn bread, glucose syrup. Stewed veggies, very faint touch of fruit (maybe some apricot and cooked apple), some spicy and rather bitter hops in the finish that fortunately clean up the sweetness.
Light bodied, smooth carbonation. Messy aftertaste of unattractive bitterness, a bit of sweet malt leaking, a touch of metal.
Looked on the label, and sugar is on the ingredient list. I'm not sure that's good for this style (and abv), but i can definitely say that's what killed it for me. Way too sweet.

12 oz. bottle with no freshness date. It pours an unfiltered golden/yellow with light carbonation and a half-inch of off-white head. The aroma is spicy and skunky, lightly floral, with a malt sweetness. It tastes of clean malts with spicy/skunky, grassy/leafy, piney? hops with a hint of lemon and a mild to medium bitterness that slowly strengthens. The body is light and airy, drying, and it thickens a bit as I drink. Overall a good Czech pils - not great, but good.

Got this bottle at the ASDA supermarket, part of the US giant Walmart now. The beer comes with a different package and label from that shown on this website, BB 30/04/06. Served chilled in a straight pint glass.

A: dark orangey-golden to light amber hue, a tightly frothy and thick beer head with great retention; against an abundantly fizzy body, looking quite promising for a bottled Pilsner~~
S: a floating bitter, resiny hops upfront, with mildly aromatic, underlying apple-peel fruity and semi-sweet honeyish aroma of Saaz dominates the nose, ever so deep and lasting its almost like being poured straight on tap; grainy note of malts is also pronounced, along with a slightly buttery, peanut backbone.
T&M: dryish, resiny, and floating bitter texture of hoppyness upfront, gradually introducing plenty of mildly "nut-skin" like malty elements of the overall flavour; the buttery flavour is not as pronounced as suggested by the nose, and the overall flavour gradually gives way to an unexpectedly prevalent bitter elements lingering at the back of the palate, more like an English bitter. Refreshing mouthfeel throughout as a natural result of its ever-lasting fizzy body, while luckily it doesn't go sticky or thick as some other stronger Pilsners do; finished with a clean and dryish touch.
D: a quality Bohemian premium lager in a bottleever since my trip to Czech Republic I tend to have this stereotype that Czech aromatic hoppy lagers just have to be consumed on tap as much as British ales have to be served on cask. This bottle hasnt changed my opinion, but it somehow shows that exported bottled Czech lagers can just as well pack its freshness at least to a decent extent.

Dusty bright gold below a tight-bubbled cap of bone white that displays an intensely pitted upper surface. The head looks like the sort that will leave a fair amount of lace, but hasn't deflated enough to tell (there isn't much glass coverage as it turns out). There's nothing spectacular about the appearance, but it's solid.

The nose isn't as hoppy as it might be. Saaziness holds a slight edge over lightly buttered pale malt, but I want them to romp and stomp and rule with an iron fist. My hoppy pilsener preference notwithstanding, this really isn't a compelling nose. It just sort of lays there waiting to be smelled rather than greeting me eagerly at the edge of the glass.

The flavor follows roughly the same blueprint. Bohemian Lager has that somewhat stale, underhopped character that most Euro pale lagers have. There's a decent amount of malt (noted mostly in the mouthfeel), but very little malty flavor transfer. Unfortunately, hop flavor doesn't fill the void. There's no shortage of bitterness though.

I've never been a fan of bitterness for bitterness's sake. I get the impression of a puckery lemon juice citric bite without actually tasting the lemon itself. The finish is hard water flinty and arid, bordering on dessicating. Maybe there isn't much malt after all. The carbonation is on the soft side and doesn't stand out in either a positive or a negative direction.

Herold Traditional Premium Bohemian Lager (could you add a few more adjectives please?) isn't very interesting beer. I don't need to be smacked upside the head by a Czech pilsener's hoppiness to be impressed, but I do need something with at least the semblance of a flavor spark to hold my interest. HTPBL is sparkless. If you have a choice, grab a few bottles of their Black Lager instead.

Tastes grassy, lightly sweet malt. Some faint but strident noble hops in the finish and aftertaste. More creamy than crisp, finishes clean, no real aftertaste. Nice for summer but overall very average. Not crisp enough, not enough hops, pretty dull and drab.